Popverse's top stories of the day

• Absolute Batman is absolutely the best-selling comic book of the year (so far)
• WATCH: Yellowstone: John Dutton's fate, Kevin Costner's exit, and season 5's biggest surprise revealed
• Tim Miller and Dave Wilson promise that Secret Level will “disembowel your childhood” with a liberally ghastly Pac-Man

2019’s Joker — an R-rated reimagining of the iconic DC villain from director Todd Phillips, which removed any trace of Batman from the proceedings, and instead used the so-called “new cinema” movement of the 1970s as its inspiration — surprised many when it was released, becoming not just a critical success, but a financial one, as well. Five years later, audiences are preparing to revisit this alternate take on Gotham City in the upcoming sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux… a movie set to share Arthur Fleck’s madness even further.

Originally intended as a standalone movie, Joker has nonetheless spawned a sequel, although reports suggest that Joker: Folie à Deux is less of a direct follow-up than a new movie that expands the world of the first in new and unexpected directions. How unexpected? Well, this one doesn’t just introduce Harley Quinn to proceedings, but transforms the movie into a musical that will include at least 15 covers of pre-existing songs in addition to potentially some original tracks.

Interestingly, while Joker leaned heavily on the visual stylings and influence of Martin Scorsese’s 1970s output — as well as his 1982 movie The King of Comedy — the new movie will look to one of his contemporaries for inspiration, with cinematographer Lawrence Sher citing Francis Ford Coppola’s One From The Heart as a primary influence on the movie.

Enough about things like aesthetics and music, however. Let’s get into the nitty and the gritty about the return of Arthur Fleck.

When's the Joker: Folie à Deux release date?

Joker: Folie à Deux will debut in theaters on October 4, 2024. It comes five years after the release of the first movie, which opened in the United States on October 4, 2019.

Who's in the Joker: Folie à Deux cast?

Joaquin Phoenix will reprise his role as Arthur Fleck, who takes on the Joker moniker at the end of the first film. Acclaimed for playing eccentrics and supporting character roles, Joaquin Phoenix won the Oscar for Best Lead Actor for his role in Joker at the Academy Awards in 2020.

Lady Gaga will play Dr. Harleen Francis Quinzel, better known to fans as Harley Quinn, the Joker's psychiatrist-turned-dysfunctional love interest.

Zazie Beetz will return as Arthur's neighbor Sophie, alongside Leigh Gill and Sharon Washington, who’ll both reprise their Joker roles as former clown Gary and Arthur’s social worker. Additionally, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Ken Leung, Steve Coogan, Harry Lawtey, and Jacob Lofland will appear in undisclosed supporting roles.

Who is the Joker: Folie à Deux director?

The director of Joker: Folie à Deux is Todd Phillips, who also directed the first movie; as with the first movie, Phillips also co-wrote the movie with Scott Silver. Phillips cut his teeth directing slapstick frat comedies like Old School and Road Trip, and subsequently came to bigger prominence as the director of the Hangover trilogy. Phillips received a Best Director nomination at the 2020 Academy Awards for his work on Joker.

For anyone wondering how Lady Gaga came to show up in Joker: Folie à Deux, it’s worth noting that Phillips was also a producer on the 2018 remake of A Star Is Born, a movie that showcased none other than Stegani Joanne Angelina Germanotta herself. (That’s Lady Gaga to you and me.)

Who is the Joker: Folie à Deux writer?

As noted above, Todd Phillips and Scott Silver are co-writing the screenplay for Joker: Folie à Deux. Phillips and Silver penned the first Joker script as well, for which they received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. That doesn’t mean that Joker was literally adapted from a comic book; “adapted screenplay” in Oscar terms simply means that it’s a screenplay based off pre-existing characters and material; 2023’s Barbie, for example, was nominated in the same category.

Is there a Joker 2 trailer?

There is indeed, set to the tune of ‘What the World Needs Now Is Love,’ offering a hint of how this whole musical thing is going to work out. (If you’re curious, it’s the Sammy Davis Jr. and Tom Jones version of the song from 1965.)

Is there a Joker: Folie à Deux poster?

There is at least a teaser poster for the movie, as debuted by Warner Bros. in early April 2024:

Does Joker: Folie à Deux take place in the DCU?

In a world of interlinking universes and changing continuity, this is a fair question. But the answer is no. A report in Variety has confirmed that the Joker franchise exists in a continuity outside of James Gunn's rebooted DCU, which officially begins with 2025’s Superman.

What's the plot of Joker: Folie à Deux?

We don't really know anything about the plot of the movie yet. We can assume that at least some of the movie will account for Harley Quinn's origin, as evidenced by the teaser trailer for the movie. But aside from that, there's a lot of space to explore the world set up in the first film. We don't know how many years have passed between the first movie and this one, but we do know that at the end of the last movie, one of the rioters cornered Thomas and Martha Wayne in an alleyway and killed them in front of Bruce. How old is Bruce Wayne now? Could he possibly figure into any of this, or is it still too early? Time will tell.

What does 'Folie à Deux' mean?

"Folie à deux" is French, and roughly translates to 'folly of two.' It is the clinical term for a particular mental disorder, in which a person who is experiencing delusions passes them on to another person in close proximity. It almost certainly refers to the relationship between Harley and Joker; in both the comics and the animated series, Harley falls in love with Joker while treating him in her role as a psychiatrist. But the title could also refer to Batman; the comic writers have frequently toyed with the idea that Batman belongs in an Arkham cell right next to his adversaries.

Is Joker: Folie à Deux a musical?

Yes, Joker: Folie à Deux is a musical, which makes Lady Gaga a particularly inspired casting choice. The film's composer, Hildur Guðnadóttir, had this to say in an interview with Variety, about the choice to make a musical:

"It’s an interesting decision. And I think it’s really exciting to see how it unfolds. And I think it’s somehow logical at the same time. It’s both logical and also very surprising. For me as well as the audience. So far it’s just been a really beautiful conversation and I’m really excited to see how it unfolds."

Love watch DC movies on the big screen? Check out all of the upcoming DC projects that will be hitting movie theaters (and streaming services) in the near future!